The invention relates to a one-piece furniture frame of plastic with legs, said legs being connected to a plate through the intermediary of tubular receptacles.
Such a design is on the market and is shown in the "STRAX" brochure of the firm Casala-(Casala Mobel-Werke GmbH, Neu-Ulm).
In said design, the relatively short tubular receptacle, which extends over the region of the plate and the holder thereof, forms a critical point, because the stability of the furniture frame--particularly if the furniture in question is for sitting on--is dependent on the tubular receptacle. Furthermore, the construction of the leg, enclosed by the tubular receptacle, is complex, because, viewed from the leg, it only partially fills the tubular receptacle and the side facing away from the leg is covered by a plug, for which plug there is a special connection to the leg situated inside the tubular receptacle. This diminishes the stability of the totality of parts embraced by the tubular receptacle and, moreover, the design-related outlay on said connection results in correspondingly high material costs and manufacturing costs.
The object of the invention is to improve the initially described design with regard to stability and to reduce the technical complexity thereof. The object of the invention is achieved in that the tubular receptacles extend as far as the floor and form the legs, into each of which legs is inserted at least one fitted supporting rod.
Owing to the fact that, in contrast to the known design, the tubular receptacles are extended as far as the floor--through which extension the tubular receptacles assume the function of the legs--there results the visually attractive possibility of the insertion of at least one supporting rod into each leg, said supporting rod being able to extend over the entire length of the tubular receptacle/leg and therefore being able to exert its full stability-enhancing effect over the entire length of the leg. Alternatively, however, it is also of course possible to make the supporting rod shorter, with the result that it does not extend completely to the floor end of the respective leg. This depends on the stability of the plastic used for the furniture frame.
The supporting rod is preferably a metal rod. However, it is, of course, also possible to employ hard wood or a plastic especially suitable for the purpose. The appearance of the supporting rod is of no consequence, since it is completely surrounded by the tubular receptacle, with the result that, in this respect, the visual attractiveness of the furniture frame in question is determined exclusively by the appearance of the tubular receptacle. The supporting rod may also consist of a plurality of adjoining pieces.
Particularly in cases where the furniture frame is in the form of a piece of furniture for sitting on, it is advantageous for the supporting rods, inserted into a plurality of tubular receptacles, to be interconnected. In this case, a length of the supporting rods projecting from the tubular receptacle is used as a holder for the connection of two adjacent supporting rods, said connection then being available for use as a backrest. The backrest may be a separate plastic part provided with its own short tubular receptacles, into which the ends of the supporting rods are then inserted. Alternatively, however, it is also possible to interconnect the supporting rods themselves, for which purpose, on the connection side, where they protrude from the tubular receptacles, the supporting rods are each bent towards the other supporting rod. In the case of the connection of two adjacent supporting rods, it is advantageous to employ a U-shaped design of the two supporting rods with their connection.
Such connections may advantageously be used as armrests. Furthermore, such connections may also serve the respective furniture frame--particularly when the furniture is for sitting on--as an elongated floor runner extending between two supporting rods. Such runners, connecting two adjacent supporting rods, may advantageously be used particularly when the furniture in question is a chair that frequently has to be pushed backwards and forwards.